Brock

SEATTLE — When the Dodgers traded for Brock Stewart at the trade deadline, they knew he came with some risk.

But on Friday, their worst-case scenario was realized.

Stewart will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, manager Dave Roberts announced, leaving the Dodgers without the only significant deadline addition they made to bolster their struggling bullpen.

Although the Dodgers have been managing several injury concerns — from Will Smith’s fractured hand, to Tommy Edman’s sore ankle, to leg bruises that Max Muncy revealed on Friday he has been dealing with — Stewart’s status had become among the most alarming.

Even after completing a minor-league rehab stint for a shoulder problem that had kept him out since early August, he continued to feel residual soreness.

After meeting with head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week, Stewart and the team decided surgery would be best. According to general manager Brandon Gomes, the 33-year-old is having a debridement procedure that should allow him to pitch the “majority” of next season, when he will still be under Dodgers control.

But for this October, the club will have to proceed without him.

“We had a lot of conversations with Brock, and he was like, ‘Hey, I want to help this team in any way possible,’” Gomes said. “But watching him throw and just having the conversations with him, there was still something that was just bothering him. As much as we would love to have him right now, we don’t want to put his long-term health at risk.”

Shoulder problems are nothing new for Stewart. Last season, he made just 16 appearances with the Minnesota Twins before undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in August.

While this latest injury is not believed to be directly related to last year’s issue, Gomes did acknowledge that “any time you’re taking on a pitcher, we understand that there are risks.”

It’s not that the Dodgers overpaid for Stewart, giving up only former prospect James Outman in their deadline deal with the Twins. But, by not adding a bigger name in a bullpen that had been slumping even before the deadline (and has further spiraled in the two months since), the Dodgers put a lot of eggs in the right-hander’s basket. He was supposed to give the unit some experienced stability. Now, he leaves yet another hole to fill.

Without Stewart, the Dodgers’ right-handed relief hierarchy is somewhat unclear. They still have longtime stalwart Blake Treinen, but he has posted a career-worst 5.47 ERA and dealt with first-half arm troubles. Hard-throwing rookie Edgardo Henriquez has a 2.50 ERA in 21 appearances, but still has just 21⅓ career innings in the big leagues. And then there’s Roki Sasaki, the rookie Japanese phenom who returned from a nearly five-month shoulder injury with an auspicious inning out of the bullpen this week.

Another name that could enter the mix: Starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan, who was scheduled to pitch Friday’s series-opener against the Seattle Mariners but will likely be shifted to a multi-inning relief role out of the bullpen come the postseason.

In any event, however, Stewart’s absence will still hurt. What the Dodgers hoped would be a high-upside play, given his 2.38 ERA with the Twins this season, has instead become yet another bullpen letdown.

Paralympic champion Brock Whiston won gold in the women’s SM8 200m individual medley as Great Britain set a new world record at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.

Whiston backed up her Paralympic title from 12 months ago with a season’s best time of two minutes 40.25 seconds, albeit five seconds slower than the world record she set in 2019.

The 28-year-old completed her medal set at this year’s meet after winning silver in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 100m butterfly.

“I felt like coming into it I had a lot of pressure on myself,” Whiston said.

“No one else put the pressure on me but after winning gold at Paris I just wanted to come here and prove that it wasn’t just a one off and that I deserve to be on the podium. I can’t stop smiling, I’m super happy.”

Later in the session GB triumphed in the mixed S14 4x100m medley relay to claim a 13th gold medal of the championships.

Poppy Maskill, Harry Stewart, Will Ellard and Bethany Firth produced a world record time of four minutes 2.86 secs, almost five seconds faster than the previous record set by Australia at the 2023 championships.

Maskill and Stewart put in firm foundations for the team over the opening backstroke and breaststroke legs, before Ellard held off Brazil across the 100m butterfly and Firth surged to victory on the freestyle leg.

“I’m so happy! These guys are amazing, they’re so good to swim with and I think we’re just setting the standard for what is to come,” said Firth.

With the format to be introduced at the 2028 LA Paralympics, Ellard said: “Now that it’s a Paralympic event I’m sure we’ll try at different things to keep aiming to get better and better [in this format].”

Faye Rogers set a British record time of 1.00.46 to finish second in the women’s S10 100m freestyle and win her fourth medal of the week in Singapore.

Bruce Dee set another national record but missed out on a medal in the men’s SB6 100m breaststroke final by a tenth of a second, while 14-year-old Iona Winnifrith missed the podium by the same margin in the women’s S7 50m freestyle despite producing a lifetime best of 33.77 secs.

China top the medal table heading into the final day with 16 golds, with Italy second with 15 and Ukraine and the United States both on 14.